


will you catch me if i fall?

by bazerella



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Andrew POV, Firefighter! Neil, M/M, possibly tw in the notes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:02:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28157271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bazerella/pseuds/bazerella
Summary: Andrew’s eyes were stuck on the gap.“I won’t let you fall,” Neil seemed to read Andrew’s mind. “I promise.”Neil was a stranger and had no way of knowing what the word ‘promise’ meant to Andrew. Andrew enlightened him, “I take promises very seriously.”“That’s good,” Neil said. “I wouldn’t promise you something I didn’t mean. I won’t let you fall, but you need to meet me halfway. I can keep my promise better if you’re closer to me.”---(Or: Neil is a firefighter and Andrew needs help.)
Relationships: Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard
Comments: 40
Kudos: 338





	will you catch me if i fall?

**Author's Note:**

> uhhhh i dont really know where this came from i literally just wrote this all in the span of an hour because i had an idea and i didn't want it to escape while i had the motivation to write so this is not beta read
> 
> possible trigger warnings: andrew is stuck in a burning building and he has a lot of thoughts about death by fire vs death by falling

Contrary to popular belief; the fire was not Andrew’s fault. Andrew Minyard is _responsible_ and always checks his ashtray before going inside. He makes sure that his cigarettes are completely out and that there’s no chance of the wind knocking any stray embers out. 

Mrs. Bloom from three down doors, however, is clearly _not_ responsible. She’s the one who fell asleep on her couch with a lit cigarette. She’s the reason that the entirety of floor 10 is up in flames right now. She’s the reason that Andrew is currently trapped on his fire escape, ironically unable to escape from the fire. 

Andrew would like to also acknowledge that his cousin, Nicky, is also to blame for this. It was all ‘Oh Andrew you can’t live on the first floor of the building! That’s so depressing’ and ‘Andrew! Imagine the view from the tenth floor! I bet the sunsets are so much more romantic from up there’. 

If there is one thing that Andrew knows for sure now, it’s that the alleged romantic sunsets (that he’s yet to actually see because his job keeps him out until the glorious hours of 3:00am) were not worth this shit. 

Andrew always believed that in the instance of danger, such as a blazing and out of control fire caused by the horrid sleeping habits of a 75 year old woman, that he would be able to conquer his fear of heights. He’s worked very hard in the last few years to convince himself that he is a person who deserves good things and to be alive, and yet, here he stands, unable to move because frankly the fire escape is rickety and it seems unsafe and he’s well aware that he’s probably going to get torched at any moment but honestly at this point he’d rather go by fire than falling to his own death. 

Andrew makes the mistake of leaning slightly over to see if he can tell what’s going on, if anyone’s noticed that he’s stuck on the side of the building. _Yup. Wow. Okay. Major fucking mistake. Fuck._ He can see crowds of people looking up in horror and the panic of the general public. Andrew could swear he heard sirens before but time is really eluding him up here. He can’t even pinpoint the moment he stepped out on the fire escape. 

He was sitting on his couch as he typically does when he comes home from work, eating leftovers from the kitchen and watching some mindless before he headed to bed. He smelt the smoke first. Andrew is very in tune with cigarette smoke so he knew right away that _this_ was different. He had shoved his bowls in the sink, thinking to himself that he would wash them tomorrow, and then headed to his front door. 

There was a young single mother who lived right next door with her four year old daughter and Andrew thought that perhaps it was microwave popcorn gone wrong and like the kind, friendly neighbor he is, he was planning on just checking up on them to see if everything was okay. 

What he didn’t expect was to open his front door to flames that were twice his height. 

The rest occurred very quickly. He called 911. (He told himself it was different because he wasn’t calling _cops_ , he was calling firefighters and maybe EMTs). Then he called Nicky and Aaron and casually told them that his building was up in flames. 

Nicky was full of distress and Andrew heard him force Erik up and demanded he drive him to Andrew’s right away. Aaron was slightly more calm and spoke to Andrew like he was a man on a mission. 

“What are you doing now?” Aaron had asked. 

“Calling you,” Andrew said because apparently he was incapable of not being sarcastic even in life or death situations. 

Aaron wasn’t amused. “Grab your wallet, anything you can carry without being weighed down and go down the fire escape.” 

“The fire-escape.” Andrew repeated. But he had done what Aaron wanted, grabbed his wallet, and an old picture of himself with Nicky and Aaron when they were young and full of toothless grins, and then proceeded to shove himself through the window to the fire escape. 

“Are you on the escape?” Aaron asked. 

“Yes,” Andrew had faltered. “It’s high up.” 

“Andrew.” Aaron used his stern voice. It was the same voice he used when his children came back from visiting their (favorite) Uncle Andrew and demanded dessert for all three meals. “The fire needs to be scarier than falling right now. Okay?” 

And Andrew had said okay because even after all these years he never wanted to be the one who made Aaron upset. 

Andrew was going to have to deal with the fact that he was about to make Aaron very, very upset though because there was absolutely no way in hell he was going to be able to get down. He pressed himself up against the brick wall, that despite the fire inside, was cool to touch so that he couldn’t see the crowd from down below. 

He decided that the best thing for him right now was to close his eyes and reflect on his previous good decision of not giving in to adopting a cat because if he had a cat in his care right now, well, he would feel doubly guilty for not being able to protect it. 

Andrew wasn’t sure how much time had passed by but he opened his eyes when he heard the sound of machinery getting closer and closer to him. He took a risk and peaked over and saw the ladder of a firetruck completely raised and headed toward him. 

When the ladder stopped there stood a firefighter, barely taller than Andrew himself, standing in the bucket. 

“You seem to be in quite the predicament,” The firefighter teased and honestly what the fuck? On one hand Andrew could appreciate that this guy clearly was very comfortable with his job, that he was able to make jokes but also could he not tell that Andrew was on the verge of losing control? Or maybe he could tell and that was why he made the joke in the first place. It did cease Andrew from thinking about a height related death for exactly one second so he supposed it was worth it. 

Andrew could barely see the man underneath the heavy firefighter gear. But even through the helmet, the chin strap, the mask, and the face shield, Andrew could see the firefighters eyes perfectly. They were the purest blue Andrew had ever seen in his life. He wasn’t even sure this was a color on the spectrum. They were going to have to come up with a new color for this man’s eyes because blue did not do them justice. 

“What’s your name?” The firefighter asked. 

Andrew blamed the smoke that was undoubtedly getting to his brain for why he responded, “Andrew.” 

“Well, Andrew, I’m Neil. I’m going to help you out of this mess, okay? Because if you stay here you’re going to go down with the building, and if I’m being completely honest, this building doesn’t have much time left.” 

“You’re really shit at this whole comforting people thing,” Andrew snapped because _now_ Andrew didn’t even have ‘death-by-flames’ to rely on. He was either going to die falling while trying to get off this fire escape or die falling with a gigantic building because he took too long on the fire escape. 

“I’m not here to comfort you,” Neil said plainly. “I’m here to make sure you’re alive at the end of this.” 

And well. That was something. That was something because for so long Andrew was convinced that no one cared whether or not he was alive and for a stranger to admit only ten seconds into meeting Andrew that his priority was to ensure Andrew’s life stayed intact, well, Andrew was getting ahead of himself. Neil didn’t mean it like _that_. Neil was a firefighter and this was his job. His current job was to save the twenty-six year old afraid of heights. 

“Andrew,” Neil addressed with a steady voice. Andrew noticed for the first time that while the ladder was basically right in front of Andrew, there was still a slight gap between the edge of the fire escape and the open bucket where Neil stood. It was only about two feet but it was enough to make Andrew uneasy. “I need you to walk to the end of the fire escape. When you get to the end I can reach you better, and pull you in.” 

Andrew’s eyes were stuck on the gap. 

“I won’t let you fall,” Neil seemed to read Andrew’s mind. “I promise.” 

Neil was a stranger and had no way of knowing what the word ‘promise’ meant to Andrew. Andrew enlightened him, “I take promises very seriously.” 

“That’s good,” Neil said. “I wouldn’t promise you something I didn’t mean. I won’t let you fall, but you need to meet me halfway. I can keep my promise better if you’re closer to me.” 

Andrew couldn’t find any flaw in Neil’s logic and if Andrew was of sound mind he would probably be angry about it. Instead, he took a deep breath and put all his trust into this stranger and stepped forward very slowly and immediately looked toward the street. _Mistake_. 

“Don’t look down, look at me.” 

Neil’s voice had a very calming timber yet Andrew felt completely helpless to deny Neil this request. Andrew’s eyes snapped up toward Neil. 

“You’re doing good, just one more step.” 

Andrew felt like he was a child being patronized but he didn’t have enough energy for a retort because his mind was blaring red sirens screaming _you’re gonna fall_ on repeat. Andrew reached the edge and he could see Neil’s eyes focusing on something behind him. Andrew started to turn around to see what had the firefighters attention but as he did his foot slipped out from beneath him. Andrew momentarily thought _this is it_ but before he could start thinking about his own funeral, Neil’s strong gloved hands held on to his biceps to keep him up. 

Andrew should feel disturbed at a stranger's hands on his body. He should feel disgusted and want to scream but instead he just feels...okay. He has half his brain still in panic mode from his almost-fall and the other half chanting out _safe safe safe safe._ Neil pulls him the rest of the way into the bucket with him. The bucket is not nearly big enough to hold two grown men (despite how short) when one of them is wearing over 100 pounds of protective gear. 

Like something out of a movie, as soon as Andrew is securely in the bucket, the escape that he was just standing on is engulfed in flames. Andrew’s eyes widened and reflexively he moved closer into Neil. Again, Andrew blamed all the smoke that he’s been inhaling. 

“Kevin, we’re good, you can let us down now,” Neil moved himself and Andrew further into the bucket as he spoke into the walkie-talkie. 

Andrew is still pressed up against Neil but he doesn’t particularly feel inclined to move. Not as he feels the firetruck moved them away from the burning building. Not as the ladder lowered until Andrew can stand on solid ground again. Not even as Andrew hears Nicky screaming his name and trying to get past the yellow caution tape blocking off pedestrians. 

“That’s my cousin,” Andrew said. 

Neil gently led Andrew off the platform of the bucket and walked him over to where Nicky was standing. Andrew doesn’t even protest when Nicky wrapped his arms around Andrew, in fact Andrew is pretty sure he embraced Nicky back. It’s the smoke, really. 

“Is he okay? Is he in shock?” Nicky directed all his questions toward Neil. 

“Could be.” Andrew watched completely transfixed as Neil pulled off his helmet and took off the rest of the gear protecting his face, revealing his blue eyes, which looked way more crystal without the shield blocking them. And to top it all off, Neil had bright auburn hair that Andrew would forever associate with fire. 

_Fuck_ . Andrew thought. Not only did Andrew have to be saved by a firefighter but he was saved by a _hot_ firefighter. 

“Give me one second,” Neil said before turning around, and doing a slow jog to the other firefighters. Neil stood back as the others brought the hoses close to the building. Andrew didn’t even care about the stuff in his apartment. He pressed his own fingers to his own neck to feel his pulse to make sure this was all real. 

“Andrew I know this is a sensitive time, because you just almost died, but good Lord if that isn’t one of the most attractive men I’ve ever seen in my life.” 

Andrew leaned his head into Nicky’s shoulder and for once in his life just let him be held by his family, “I know.” 

Nicky and Andrew stayed in their place until the fire was out. The building was destroyed, but luckily there were no casualties. There were at least twenty injured and a few in critical condition but the EMTs were faithful that there would be no further complications. 

Neil came over to them as the fire trucks began to clear out. He had removed his jacket and all he had on was a black long sleeve t-shirt and his firefighter pants held on my suspenders. Andrew was deeply interested, because now, Andrew realized while he was staring at Neil’s eyes, he completely overlooked the criss-crosses of scars that littered Neil’s face. 

He wasn’t put off at all, if anything he was even more interested because Neil clearly had a story, and Andrew was a very avid reader. 

“Here,” Neil handed Andrew a piece of paper. “If you’re going to be living on the top floors of large buildings you’re going to need to get a little more comfortable with heights.” 

Andrew opened the folded slip to find ten numbers arranged in a simple line. Andrew looked up at Neil. 

“Call me,” Neil requested. “I’ll take you up in the ladder again, in a less stressful situation. If you want.” 

Neil didn’t give Andrew a chance to respond. He simply turned away, leaving a wide-eyed Andrew and a gaping Nicky behind him. 

“You’re obviously going to call him,” Nicky said. 

Andrew led Nicky away from the scene of the fire and back to the car where Erik had been idling in the entire time. “Obviously.” 

  
  


* * *

*4 years later* 

“This is dumb,” Andrew complained. 

“You say that every year, and yet we continually do this despite that fact.” 

“Well I hate it. And I hate you.” 

Neil smirked, “You’re whinier than usual today. Any particular reason?” 

“No,” Andrew grumbled. 

_Yes._ Because tonight was different. Because they had just had dinner and Neil had asked Andrew to marry him and Andrew said yes and now Andrew had a stupid silver band on his left ring finger and he _wanted_ to say the ring was tacky or ugly but it wasn’t because Neil picked it out and Neil just has this way of always doing everything right. 

So here they were. They had a tradition that started when they were still new. Once a year, Andrew allowed Neil to coerce one of his coworkers into driving Neil and Andrew to the place where Andrew’s building used to reside. The same one that Neil had met Andrew. The space had since been cleared and is now a green, where they have weekly farmer’s market and teens have cringeworthy first date picnics. The fire truck is parked and Andrew and Neil pile into the bucket. The ladder goes up and they sit side by side and watch the sunset that Andrew never got to see. 

The fact that they’re still doing this even though they are now engaged makes Andrew’s insides turn to mush. _Traditions_ . Traditions _with Neil_ his brain corrected. That’s really why it all meant so much to Andrew. Because they were with Neil. 

The two sat up in the bucket with their feet hanging off the edge. Andrew was still not the biggest fan of heights but he found that he was more electrified by the feeling of Neil than the fear of falling. 

Neil wrapped his arm around Andrew’s shoulder and pulled him in. Andrew let his head fall into Neil’s chest and sighed. He could have never expected himself to feel so calm so high up. His thoughts were jostled when the ladder shook beneath them. Andrew was ready for the end when a voice spoke through Neil’s walkie-talkie. 

“Sorry about that. Accidentally hit the down button. Won’t happen again.” 

Andrew grabbed the walkie out of Neil’s hand. “It better not fucking happen again or I swear to all things sweet and good that I will make your life a living hell, Kevin Day.” 

Neil laughed and gently removed the walkie from Andrew’s hand, “I think you already do that.” 

“Whatever.” Andrew situated himself back into Neil’s arms. He wasn’t as calm as he was before but he felt the tension slowly creeping out of him as Neil ran his hand through Andrew’s hair. The sky was a swirl of orange and pink and Andrew could admit that he may owe Nicky an apology for being skeptical about the romanticism of sunsets. 

“Relax,” Neil murmured into his hair. “You know I won’t let you fall.” 

Andrew did know. It had been over four years since that day and Neil had not broken his promise once. 

  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> soooooo let me know what you think!!!! also come say hi on twitter @ [bazerella](https://twitter.com/bazerella)
> 
> also sorry the title is not my best work


End file.
